Rohit credits Kohli for India’s success in Tests ahead of landmark game

India’s first Test versus Sri Lanka is a landmark one for two reasons – it is Virat Kohli’s 100th game in the format and Rohit Sharma’s first as Test captain. 

India faces Sri Lanka at Mohali’s PCA Stadium starting Friday. 

Rohit Sharma, who is about to start his Test captaincy journey, on Thursday credited Virat Kohli for the team’s success in the format. The batting legend, with 7,962 Test match runs in 99 games, led the team after MS Dhoni’s retirement in 2014. He ended his tenure as the fourth-most successful captain in Test history with 40 wins in 68 matches. 

Also read: India vs Sri Lanka: Virat Kohli’s 100th Test to be played in front of spectators

Praising Kohli, Rohit Sharma said, “As a Test team, we stand in a very good position. The whole credit goes to Virat for where we stand in this format. What he has done with the Test team over the years was brilliant to see. I have to just take it from where he has left. I just have to do the right thing with right players.”

India are fifth on the World Test Championship table with a win percetage of 49.07. Sharma insisted that the team has been moving in the right direction.

Also read: Ind vs SL: Sunil Gavaskar backs Virat Kohli for unique feat on 100th Test

“The team stands in good position. Yes, we are mid-position in the WTC table but I don’t think we have done anything wrong in the last two to three years,” the captain added in a pre-match presser. 

Sharma further added that Kohli has changed so may things in the way the the team is moving forward. 

“It’s been a brilliant journey for him and a long one since he made his debut. Now to go and play his 100th game, it’s been a wonderful one.  It’s been one hell of a ride for him, and we definitely want to make it special for him. We are all prepared for that and let’s hope, we have good five days of cricket. The crowd is coming to see Virat play and that’s a great thing.”

Also read: Virat Kohli’s 100th Test match: 5 Test records held by Kohli

He further added that, for him, the best phase under Kohli was the 2018 Australia series which they won 2-1.

“As a team, the series we won in Australia in 2018 and it was a big series, and Virat was our captain.”

The best knock of Kohli among his 27 Test hundreds, according to Rohit, is the one he hit in South Africa on his first tour in 2013.

“As a batter, I remember his hundred (in Johannesburg) against South Africa in 2013. The pitch on which we played was a challenging one and we had bowlers like Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander and Jacques Kallis to face which wasn’t easy,” Rohit recollected.

Also read: ‘I honestly never thought I will play 100 Test matches’: Virat Kohli

“It was a bouncy track and we all were playing Test cricket in South Africa for the first time. He scored a hundred in first innings and 90 odd in the second innings.

“That hundred for me is his best. Then there is Perth 2018 but 2013 South Africa beats Perth,” he added.